Yemeni leader accepts Saudi offer of treatment

Sanaa: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh accepted an offer from the Saudi king to get medical treatment there for wounds from a rebel rocket attack, but had not yet left his country, officials close to the president said on Saturday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said Saleh spoke to Saudi King Abdullah shortly after the rocket attack Friday night that wounded Saleh and five top government officials. Eleven security men were killed.

Sheik Mohammed Nagi al-Shayef, a leader of the Saleh-allied Bakeel tribe, said he met with Saleh Saturday evening at the Defense Ministry compound in the capital.

"He suffered burns but they were not serious. He was burned on both hands, his face and head," al-Shayef told a news agency.

He said Saleh also was hit by jagged pieces of wood that splintered from the mosque pulpit. There were about 200 people inside the mosque when the rocket landed.

A secretary in Saleh`s office and a member of his ruling party said the president`s plane was still at the Sanaa airport.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said Saleh spoke to Saudi King Abdullah shortly after the rocket attack Friday night that wounded Saleh and five top government officials. Eleven security men were killed.

A secretary in Saleh`s office and a member of his ruling party said the President`s plane was still at the Sanaa airport.